David Reutimann won't be making NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup this season, but that didn't slow him down during qualifying for the Chase cutoff race on Friday at Richmond International Raceway.
Reutimann grabbed a surprising pole position – his first since May 2009 at Dover – to lead the starting lineup for Saturday night's Wonderful Pistachios 400.
"It's been a little bit of a dry spell," Reutimann said. "I think what you're seeing here is a direct result of (the team) doing something different."
The pole was the third of Reutimann's career, and it came via his speed of 127.383 mph. Jamie McMurray (127.334) was second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer.
"I was really happy with that," McMurray said. "You run those laps sometimes, and you know when you have a good one. I felt like that was going to be close to the fastest lap."
Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick were next, and Carl Edwards, AJ Allmendinger and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 10.
"I'm a little bummed out at myself on that first lap," Johnson said. "That car was capable of sitting on the pole today and I just underdrove it a little bit. I'll get over this here in a little bit and move on."
Here's the NASCAR starting lineup for Richmond International Raceway:
- David Reutimann
- Jamie McMurray
- Jimmie Johnson
- Mark Martin
- Clint Bowyer
- Jeff Burton
- Kevin Harvick
- Carl Edwards
- AJ Allmendinger
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Kurt Busch
- Kasey Kahne
- Kyle Busch
- Greg Biffle
- Paul Menard
- Joey Logano
- Jeff Gordon
- Ryan Newman
- Brad Keselowski
- David Ragan
- Landon Cassill
- Tony Stewart
- Regan Smith
- Brian Vickers
- Matt Kenseth
- David Stremme
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Casey Mears
- Michael McDowell
- Bobby Labonte
- Marcos Ambrose
- Dave Blaney
- Travis Kvapil
- David Gilliland
- Robby Gordon
- Andy Lally
- Joe Nemechek
- Stephen Leicht
- Scott Speed
- Mike Bliss
- JJ Yeley